


Need for Family

by shanachie



Series: Beast Boys [3]
Category: Need for Speed (Movie 2014)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Spoilers: my series and the movie, Warnings: misunderstandings, adorableness, miscommunications
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 10:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14133846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shanachie/pseuds/shanachie
Summary: Summary:Joe has been keeping a secret from Finn. He didn’t mean too, but it just happened. How are the two men going to come back together and stay a family?





	Need for Family

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** No one recognizable belongs to me. Not making any money off this.  
>  **Second Disclaimer** Despite being fanfiction, this is MY work and I do not give anyone or any other site permission to republish this story under my name or any other without my authorization.  
>  **Author's Note:** Thanks so much to my wonderful float_on_alright. This would not have gotten done without her. And it’s so much better thanks to her comments!

“I got it,” Finn called. Pulling open the door, he blinked in surprise at the woman standing on the porch. “Can I help you?”

“Where’s Joe Peck?” the woman demanded.

“I’ll tell you as soon as you explain who you are,” Finn replied. He looked down. “And who she is.” He indicated the little girl staring up at him.

“I don’t need to explain myself to you. Where _is_ Joe?” She raised her voice, “Joe Peck! You show yourself. Right now!”

“You don’t need to yell like that,” Finn attempted to explain. “Just tell me who you are and why you want to speak with Joe. And I’ll be happy to get him.”

“Just because you live here doesn’t give you the right to demand shit from me,” she said. “I wanna see Joe.”

“Listen, lady,” Finn started.

“Darla,” Joe’s bark cut off whatever Finn was about to say. “You don’t talk to him that way.” He brushed past Finn, getting between the two arguing adults, and settling a hand on the little girl’s head. “What are you doing here?”

“I don’t want her anymore. I’m done,” Darla declared. She spun on her heel and headed down the walk.

“You’re… wait… what?!” Joe started after her, then seemed to remember the little girl. “Finn, watch Charlotte for a minute,” he said. Confident that Finn could manage for a few minutes, he jogged after Darla.

Finn looked down at the little girl who had taken her eyes off her departing mother (he could only assume) and was now staring up at him. After a minute, she stuck the first two fingers of her left hand in her mouth as she continued to stare at him. Finn was afraid to break eye contact with her and lose her when he wasn’t looking.

“Man, why are you two staring at each other?” Joe’s voice allowed Finn to finally look away for a second.

“You told me to watch her,” Finn pointed out.

“Yeah, but more make sure she didn’t wander into the street, not get into a staring contest with her.” Joe swooped down and scooped her up, drawing a smile from the little girl as he cuddled her. “Hola, Charlotte,” he said. “Do you remember me telling you about Finn?”

Charlotte nodded before working a hand free and waving at Finn.

“Finn, this is Charlotte.” He took a deep breath. “My daughter.”

 

Joe attempted to usher them all into the house, but after that bombshell, Finn couldn't breathe. He had to get some air and before he knew it, he was headed for the garage and texting Benny to pick him up.

“Not that I mind picking your ass up,” Benny commented when Finn hauled himself into the passenger seat of the truck, “but I thought you and Peck were having coupley time today.”

“ _Peck_ is with _Charlotte_ ,” Finn answered.

“With…?” Benny made a face. “Oh. Yeah. You need to go bang on something at the garage.”

“Are you telling me that _you_ know about Charlotte?”

“Well, there’s knowing and there’s _knowing_. So do I know Charlotte exists? Yes… Have I met Charlotte? Also yes. But, Finn. It wasn’t…” Benny threw up his hands as Finn slammed the door and stormed into the garage.

Tobey moved out of the irate mechanic’s way. “What’s wrong with him?” he asked Benny as the other man followed Finn into the garage.

“Joe has Charlotte,” Benny answered.

“Shit,” Tobey said.

“Who’s Charlotte?” Julia asked, joining the two men. “Why is Finn beating up a metal chest?” She winced at the noise.

Tobey steered Julia towards the open bay door and away from the majority of the noise. “Charlotte is Joe’s daughter,” he explained. “Joe has been trying to figure out how to tell Finn about her, he just hasn’t been able to.”

Finn stalked over to the group. “I suppose you knew about her, too?” he asked Tobey.

“It wasn’t my place to tell you,” Tobey replied.

“He wasn’t…” Benny started.

Finn held up a hand to stop him. “ _Joe_ needs to explain it. Not the two of you.”

Julia rolled her eyes at the three males. “Finn, if you need, you can stay with me until you have a chance to talk with Joe. Or even want to talk with Joe.”

“Thanks, Julia. I’ll take you up on that.”

“Joe’s not…” Benny started.

“Joe doesn’t get an opinion right this second,” Finn cut in. “Not when he kept his _daughter’s_ existence from me.”

The two men voiced protests, but Finn tuned them out. Julia hooked her arm through his and drew his away from them after a minute, chatting about what they could do to get him settled at her place. He’d have to go back to the house for clothes eventually, but for now he had a change or two at the garage and that would do.

 

He was able to avoid Joe for a couple of days just by staying at Julia’s and going to the garage at odd hours. He saw evidence that the other man had been by the shop and even evidence that he’d brought Charlotte with him, but he tried not to think about it.

“Finn?” Julia asked, stopping at the door to the room he’d been sleeping in. “How do you feel about dinner out tonight?”

“Trying to get rid of me?” he asked, looking up from the carburetor he’d been cleaning.

“Tobey’s a bit tired of Benny’s couch,” Julia started.

Finn winced. “I’m sorry, Julia. I didn’t mean to throw Tobey out just because I’m mad at Joe.” He looked around the room. “Maybe I should just go home.”

She held up a hand. “You stop right there. Tobey made his own bed just like Joe. He could have stayed here. Neither one of us told him to leave, but he wanted to give you some space and time. Yes, you’re mad at Joe. And you have every right to be. But Tobey could have said something.”

“Any of them could have said something!”

“Can I ask you a question?” Julia asked, coming into the room and perching on the edge of the bed.

“Yeah, sure.” Finn looked around the room. “I’m kinda at your mercy.”

“Why _are_ you mad at Joe?”

Finn turned his attention back to the carburetor, clearly needing something to do with his hands. “It’s not what you think. It’s probably not even what he thinks. I can do math. I’m pretty sure I can figure out when she was born. And…” He shrugged. “If I’m right, we weren’t even technically together when it happened.” He switched the cloth he’d been using for a brush. “It might be different if we were, but I can’t be mad at him for screwing around on me if he didn’t. I’m mad he didn’t _tell_ me about her. I feel like he doesn’t _trust_ me.”

“Let me make sure I have this right?” Julia questioned. “You’re okay with Joe having a child with someone else. You’re all right with the actual _child_. You just wanted to know?”

“Pretty much. Especially since it seems like all our other friends know. I feel like I don’t matter.” Finn set his tools down and turned to face her. “And when he went after the girl… Charlotte’s mother? He told me to watch her. Like it would be okay. Then he asked her if she remembered me. Like he’s said things about me. So she knows who I am.” He shook his head. “I can’t… I just can’t.”

Julia got up, crossing the room to him, and hugging him. “We’ll figure it out.”

Finn sighed. “There’s nothing to figure out. Joe didn’t trust me enough to tell me about her. I just have to work my way through that.”

She sighed, then opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted as the doorbell rang. “I’ll be right back.”

“Tell Tobey I’ll clear out tonight. Let you two have some alone time,” Finn called after her.

“Okay!” Julia called back before disappearing completely into the front of the house.

A minute later, Julia called, “Finn? It’s not for me.”

Finn sighed, but hauled himself out of his chair. Grabbing a rag, he headed towards the door, attempting to clean his hands as he moved. Julia was blocking the doorway as much as she was able when he got there, leaving the person on the porch. As Finn got closer, he could see it was Joe, looking awkward as only Joe could. “I’ll send him away if you want,” Julia said, clearly not caring that Joe was standing in front of her.

“No. It's fine,” Finn told her. He motioned for her to move, but crossed his arms and stood in front of the door himself. “What?”

Joe thrust the bunch of wrenches, tied with a shop cloth, at Finn. “I… these are for you.”

Finn eyed them, but made no move to accept them. “What do you want?”

“Can we talk?”

“Pretty sure we’re talking.”

“No, I mean…” Joe lowered his hand. “I wasn’t trying to keep Charlotte from you. I wanted… I had no idea how to tell you.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper. When he unfolded it, Finn realized it was multiple pieces of papers. “Could you just take…?” Joe held the wrenches out again.

When Finn didn’t look like he was going to take them, Julia darted forward and took them from Joe. “I’ll just hang onto these until you decide what you want to do with them,” she decided.

“Can I talk to you alone?” Joe asked.

“No,” Finn said. “I don’t think so.”

Hands freed from his gift, Joe unfolded the papers. “I made lists. From the day, the hour Charlotte was born, I planned how I was going to tell you about her. How I was going to introduce the two most important people in my life.”

“And? How’d that go for you?”

“None of them seemed right.” Joe’s hand crumpled the papers. “I thought about calling you as soon as she was born. I wanted you to come home and visit and I’d have you meet us at a park. I thought of just letting us have a day or a picnic. I was going to drive out to Detroit and tell you. I have so many pictures of her that I was going to show you. I was going to go for a drive with you in the Beast and tell you when you couldn’t run away from me.” He smoothed out the papers. “I had so many plans. But none of them seemed good enough.”

Finn interrupted his rambling. “And yet you clearly told her about me. And Tobey and Benny know.”

“She knows about you because it’s easy to tell a kid stuff like that. They believe their dads about everything. And Tobey and Benny were here so they asked where I was disappearing to. Benny _followed_ me one weekend.”

Finn snorted a laugh. “That sounds like Benny.”

“Will you come home?” Joe asked. “Please?”

Shaking his head, Finn responded, “No.” When Joe’s face fell, he explained, “I’m not ready. Not yet.”

“Finn.”

“Joe, you can’t just come over here and spin a story about how you _planned_ to tell me and expect me to come home. I can’t…” Finn shook his head again. “I came home. I helped with Tobey and I cam home. I thought… I don’t know what I thought. But…” He reached out to Joe. “I’m not going to rehash why I left and why I stayed away. I’m just not ready.”

“Darla meant…” Joe started.

“I’m not upset about Darla,” Finn said. “I’m hurt and upset that you didn’t share Charlotte with me. I just need some time.”

“Can you get to know Charlotte while you have your time?” Joe questioned.

“Yes,” Julia hissed from where she’d been listening in.

“Julia!” Finn spun around and tried to shoo her away.

“Oh, come on, Finn. It’s so cute.” Julia waved the bunch of wrenches. “Look he brought you a gift. And he’s trying. Don’t forgive him, but let him make it up to you.”

Finn glared at her. “And if it was Tobey?”

“Oh, I’d kick him in the nuts,” she said decisively.

Both men winced at the response. Joe moved towards the edge of the porch. “I think I’ll…” he said. “You call me when you want to talk.”

“Joe? I’ll think about it,” Finn said. Making a quick decision, he reached for the other man, hauling him close and pressing a brief kiss to his lips. “But don’t push it.”

 

 

“Should I take her a gift?” Finn fretted a few days later. He was supposed to meet Joe and Charlotte for lunch and was nervous about it.

“Maybe not this time,” Julia said. “You don’t want to set a precedent.”

“I want to make a good impression on her.”

“Spoiling her isn’t the way to make an impression. That just makes her expect gifts from you,” Julia explained. She glanced at the clock. “You’re going to be late. Should I drop you off?”

“That’s fine and then I can get a ride home from Joe.”

“Call me if you need,” Julia told him.

Finn paused after he entered the diner to watch Joe and Charlotte. She was kneeling in the booth next to him, studying the crayons on the table in front of her. As Finn watched, Joe picked up a crayon and handed it to her. The little girl shook her head, setting the crayon back down. Joe patiently handed her a different crayon which was also rejected.

Continuing to watch them, Finn crossed the diner to the booth they occupied. Joe looked up as the slighter man reached them. “Hey,” he said. “Charlotte, do you remember Finn?”

The little girl nodded, but didn’t look up from arranging the crayons.

“Hey. Hi, Charlotte.” Finn attempted to smile at her.

She looked up again, wiggling her fingers at him, before returning her attention to the crayons.

Joe sighed. “Sorry, man, it’s not you. She hasn’t said a word since Darla left her with me.” He gently ran his hand down her hair. “I was hoping you’d somehow get her to talk.”

“Me? Why me?” Finn looked confused. “And how? I don’t even know…” Joe’s expression made him stop talking. “Yeah, okay.” He looked down at the menu in front of him. “Are we ordering lunch?”

“Charlotte, you want something to eat?” Joe asked. When she nodded, he opened the menu to the kids’ section, letting her look at the pictures. After a minute, she pointed to the chicken fingers.

“Those look good, Charlotte, I think I want them, too,” Finn told her. She smiled in response.

Charlotte relaxed as the two men chatted while they ate, but never spoke a word, pointing to what she wanted and nodding or shaking her head in answer to questions.

“You gonna be okay with her for a minute?” Joe asked as they finished eating. “I’m going to go pay.”

“Charlotte, you okay if your dad leaves you with me?” Finn asked.

“Papá,” Joe corrected, even as Charlotte nodded, “she calls me papá.”

Charlotte clambered down from the booth as soon as Joe moved. Joe was worried she was going to follow him until she stopped in front of Finn. She stared at the slighter man until he slid over and she was able to climb into the booth next to him. Joe watched as Finn allowed Charlotte to lean against him and she settled in, kicking her feet against the booth. Confident that they were settled for the moment, he went to pay the bill.

“Hey, Charlotte,” Finn said once he was sure Joe was out of earshot. The little girl looked up from her pictures. “You know I’m not mad at you, right? Your papá and I have some issues to work out, but I’m not at all upset with you.”

She nodded at him before pointing at another picture and reaching for a crayon.

Finn looked up in time to see Joe smile as he made his way back. Finn had had his head bent down, talking quietly to Charlotte as she pointed out different things on the pictures she’d colored when she’d finished eating. “So Charlotte and I were thinking about going to the park,” Joe said. “Would you like to go with us?”

 

 

Over the next few weeks, Joe invited Finn to a variety of activities with him and Charlotte. Sometimes Finn agreed to join them, sometimes he backed out. What it all meant was he was a bit more at ease with Charlotte when he walked into the garage with Julia to find the little girl perched on the hood of a car. She waved eagerly when she saw Finn, almost sliding off the car in her urgency. Joe reached out without pausing in his conversation with Tobey to hold her in place.

“She’s adorable!” Julia gushed and Finn realized the Brit hadn’t actually met Charlotte yet.

Benny came in behind them, making a beeline for the trio when he saw who was sitting on the car. “Charlie!” he exclaimed, making the little girl light up again.

Joe rolled his eyes. "Her name is Char- _LOTTE_. _Charlotte!_ She's a queen. Mi reina. Not a biker chick!"

Finn snorted, having heard variations of this discussion every time they saw Benny. “Ya know Charlie isn’t…”

Joe held a finger up. “Don’t even say it.”

“Don’t say what?” Julia asked in confusion.

“Joe doesn’t want me to agree to call her ‘Charlie’,” Finn explained.

“We’ll just wait until she’s sixteen and driving to give her a nickname then,” Benny declared, holding out his fist for Charlotte to bump.

“My daughter is _not_ racing!” Joe protested as Finn moved away to check the order sheets and see if the parts he needed had come in.

Benny and Joe’s teasing faded into the background as he poked through the papers. Every so often Tobey interjected a comment or two with Julia’s laughter and higher voice ringing out over the others.

He had just located the paperwork he needed when Charlotte yelled, “Daddy!” He thought it was odd that she was yelling when Joe was right there, but continued reading. “Daddy!” Charlotte yelled again.

This time, Finn turned to see her standing on the trunk of the GTO they’d been working on. When she noticed Finn looking, she stretched her arms out, calling for a third time, “Dad- _dy_!”

Joe laughed. “Man, it’s about time you paid attention to her. She’s only been yelling for you for the past five minutes.”

“She’s been yelling for daddy,” Finn corrected, even as he moved to pick her up.

Charlotte latched onto his t-shirt, refusing to let go once she was in his arms and tucking her face into the crook of his shoulder. A quiet sniffle came from the vicinity of her hidden face.

“Pretty sure she’s referring to you,” Tobey pointed out.

Joe nodded. “I’ve never been ‘daddy’. She’s called me ‘Papá’ since she figured out how to talk.”

“But she hasn’t been talking,” Finn protested.

“Guess she was waiting for the right moment.” Joe tickled her in the side; not giving up until Charlotte squirmed and giggled. “Mi reina, would you like Daddy to come back home to stay with us?”

Charlotte lifted her head, throwing her arms around Finn’s neck. “Yes!” she declared.

“What do you say, mi rey?” Joe asked. “Ready to move back in?”

“Yes.” Finn felt something relax in his chest as he agreed to go home with Joe. He’d never felt right being apart from the other man, no matter how upset he was, and he knew it was time to go home.


End file.
